Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today picked Bhrugu Baxipatra as its candidate from Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency hours after he joined the regional front on Wednesday.
Baxipatra, who was serving as Odisha BJP vice-president, resigned from the party in the morning and joined the BJD during noon hours and managed to secure a ticket in the evening. He will contest the prestigious poll battle from Berhampur parliamentary segment.
The BJD, which appointed sitting MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu as its manifesto committee chief, accommodated Baxipatra in Sahu’s place. Interestingly, the former BJP leader had lost the election to Sahu in 2019.
Speculations were doing the rounds that BJD would field Baxipatra from Berhampur soon after he embraced the party. Hours after his joining, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik announced the third list of Lok Sabha candidates which included the name of Baxipatra.
The veteran leader had resigned from the saffron party earlier during the day and officially joined the BJD at the party’s headquarters, Sankha Bhawan in presence of MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu, a leader Baxipatra had lost to in 2019.
Baxipatra decided to leave the BJP after the party nominated MLA Pradeep Panigrahy, who had been expelled by the BJD, for the Berhampur seat.
Now Baxipatra and Panigrahy will cross swords in the electoral battle field.
